Oh, Georgia! She lives with you??? You are a tough cookie!! You ought to consider looking at this site -- it's a home for both children of Narcissistic and Borderline parents. The labels tend to get interspersed, I noticed, which isn't a big deal. It's nice to "talk" to people who understand how odd and over the top these people can be. Please join us or at least just take a look: http://thepsychopath.freeforums.org/adult-children-of-psychopaths-and-narcissists-f28.html Take care, A.

Hi K ~ I'm so sorry. It's not really a club any of us want to belong to!! A.

Hi Everyone, I saw Colleen's post earlier and it broke my heart. Sadly, I have way too much knowledge about "difficult" parents. Not always of course, but usually difficult parents turn out to be ones who have something called Narcissistic Personality Disorder. It's a very serious problem. . . especially for their children. Googling Narcissism is a great way to start. People like Colleen will find people who understand. If you've never had a narcissistic parent -- it's very, very hard to fathom what these parents do. And, to make matters worse, these people make themselves look like gems to the rest of the world. Only the kids/spouses know the truth. Anyway, this is an awesome place to start. Don't let the freakish name of the site scare you. The people on this site are awesome and supportive. http://thepsychopath.freeforums.org/adult-children-of-psychopaths-and-narcissists-f28.html Take care, Alicia

We're a real peanut butter family. And it HAS to be Laura Scudders. . . the kind w/ oil on the top that has to be mixed in, that kind. We tried different brands and dh is adamant: it has to be the Laura Scudders. :glare: Do you know a recipe for that stuff? Or a way to buy it cheaply? Costco doesn't carry it. So far it looks like only the most expensive grocery stores carry it. I'd love to find a way to reduce this part of our food budget. A jar here is almost $6 -- which, basically lasts about a week and a half. Maybe two weeks. I need to watch and pay more attention to how fast we use it. Thank you for anything! Alicia

No question. I'd switch. If he/she is going to give the customer service -- especially when a child in pain is involved -- there's something extremely wrong. My vet would have been more on top of it. Alicia

I have so much respect and admiration for military wives. You women are towers of strength. Not that that makes you less lonely. Does this help? I know plenty of people and still go in and out on feeling lonely. But I can't imagine what it would be like to have my dh not show up at the end of the day. I'm so sorry. . . Hang in there. When I'm down, a good book brings me back. Alicia

Tara ~ my son has major privacy issues and won't let the grandparents do the wiping -- or, believe me, I'd be more than fine with that. My husband thinks I'm coddling him throug this and is mad at me somewhat. But he's paying attn. to this thread. So maybe he'll get off his high horse and help our baby out! :lol: Alicia

Hey Everyone! You're wonderful, thank you! Jessica ~ I told my son your idea of a large square and I got so excited when he said, "sounds good to me." Like. . . wow. . . my mind is blown. Re: messy pants. He never gets off the potty -- he just sits and yells, "mama! Come wipe my tucas!!" :glare: Thanks again! A.

I can't tell you how much this is impacting our lives. My son is six in April and flat out refuses to wipe his own bottom. The problem is that next Sat., dh is taking him for the day to visit the grandparents. And I'm staying home and getting a day to myself. Meaning I can vacuum in peace. :glare: So now ds is panicking because he knows I'm not going on Sat. and is threatening to stay home. Ahhhh! I'm asking him each time to try it once himself before I come in and do a rescue wipe. I also need to get him the wet wipes. That might help. In fairness to him, he is a messy pooper. Whereas my other son is relatively clean before he even wipes. I even tried bribing him with a cookie today to give it a good try and he said no. Any ideas?? Alicia

I'm hoping someone has a really healthy recipe for a breakfast oatmeal "cookie". Thanks, Alicia

Thanks everyone1 -- all points well taken. i love lucy -- love your maniacal laugh! A.

Hi Everyone, I'm proud of myself. I really am. When I pulled my boys from ps at Christmas I could barely look people in the eye and whisper, "I'm hsing them now". Just three short months later, when people ask how I like hsing I say, "it's even better than I expected." (Usually the poor souls who are asking are ps moms who look exhausted and I'm full of energy mainly b/c I'm on my own schedule.) And I don't walk around feeling like everyone who doesn't hs are "idiots". HS isn't for everyone. But it's great for us. I feel like my family found it's path. BUT. . . my bookclub asked me about it the other night and all of a sudden I had six pairs of eyes on me. You know it's just plain hard to sum up the beauty of hs in two or three sentences. So I just say I love it and stop. They kept looking at me. I just felt so at a loss. They ask, "do you check in with someone?" Yes, I happen to be with a charter and love the Ed. Specialist they assigned me. "So it's just you and the boys at home?" Well, yeah, but we get out of the house every day and have plenty of park time -- we're not recluses. My cousin visited today -- a devoted Christian -- and I thought of all people, she'd be supportive. Nope. It just got really quiet with her and her husband when I told them what we're doing. Don't get me wrong, I've developed some backbone in the last few months and I feel strongly that we're doing something great for our kids. Still, I wish hs were a little more mainstream. Just venting! I'd love feedback! A.

Just wanted to add a possibility: high anxiety. I don't think people in our culture have any realization that a person who is totally normal in a situation where he's cool and confident, acts like a goof when he's uncomfortable. I'm not saying that's your friend, but I've seen it often in people and give them a pass. A.

Sharon ~ LOVE YOU! Huge thanks re: allergies to rubber. I never even thought of it! MgoBlue ~ Excellent feedback. Thank you. I wonder if there's links to the articles on those teens/that fire. Thanks again. girligirlmom ~ yes, the district was told all the wires were taken out. But we've already had one child/mom come forword who get badly scratched. Never even thought about no bare feet in the summer. Tap ~ Thank you! I'm using your links and advice! Flock ~ I hardly know where to begin. There's so many obvious reasons why this was a dumb idea. But the main one is: the kids don't play in it!! Thanks everyone, I really appreciate your time and attention!! A.

Sadly, the district knows what they're doing, but don't seem to care. They think they've come up with a rockin' idea!! :001_huh: THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR YOUR SUPPORT. I've been feeling a little alone. There's one other family who are really helping and one mom who is doing a little something. But other than that, it's amazing how complacent people are on something that's effecting their kids. Or other people's kids. I mean, this was a nice sandbox for the moms and kids. It was large and a nice place for the moms to sit, watch the kids and talk. Thanks again, it's nice to not hear that I'm crazy!! A.

I'm the winner of the dorkiest answer. Here goes. I also have two Kinders this year and I'm new and was freaking out in one way or another. I don't have a 2 yr. old though. I just happened to read the Little House on the Prairie book series to the boys -- I know you have limited time -- but seeing how Ma and Pa essentially homeschooled made a huge impression on me. Now when I feel like the boys aren't getting to see enough friends, go to enough bday parties, whatever, I stack it against the rich relationships the Ingalls family had with each other. And I also agree with Wendy: we'll miss this when it's over. I know I miss my two year olds. :crying: A.

Peek a boo ~ I went to the staff at the park districts board and asked to be an item on the agenda. She agreed. Is it okay that we're going directly to the park district board? Or do you think this is a mistake. I am putting the time in -- it's amazing how much time it's taking. Thanks everyone, I needed the support! Parents are mad, but nobody really wants to do much to get change to happen. And yes, the district applied for a grant from the Ca Waste Managment who want the chopped up rubber used in exactly this way. My understanding is that they're going to push this in other park districts. :001_huh: A.

YES! They removed the sand and put chopped up rubber pieces in it. I also love the rubber "carpet" under the equipment -- I have no problem w/ that at all. But the kids can't do a thing with the rubber. They essentially took a really neat thing out of our parks -- it was a great meeting spot for moms -- without asking anyone. And now that we're complaining they're acting like they can't figure out why we're upset. Not a single parent on the park district board. Grandparents, whose own kids are gone, but no actual parents. And they're the heavy park users. A.

And they did it without asking anyone. They just decided to apply for a grant with the Ca. Waste Management Board who was more than happy to grant them money to replace our really fun, nice sandboxes with rubber mulch (chopped up tires). They keep saying but it's easier to maintain! And it was given to us! And, no, they didn't do it for health reasons. The sandboxes are nowhere near houses so, in all the years I've been out there, we've never found feces. The fact that the sandboxes went from overflowing with kids to totally empty doesn't faze them. I pointed out to them that the users are too small to have a voice in the matter and the moms of the users are usually too tired/sleep deprived to take on the park board. I'm so annoyed that they'd make a major change to all the parks in our district without talking to anyone. Either before or after. Nobody from the board has even bothered to see if the kids like the rubber. They don't. We're also worried that when summer comes the rubber will heat up and smell. Plus the metal supposedly has been taken out of all the rubber but a mom has come forward who says her child got scratched by metal and now has a scar. Still need to see for myself. Like I don't have enough to do! The venting felt good. Thanks. A.

I agree w/ Colleen totally. :iagree: Call Sparknotes. And if you want me to call, I'll do it. Ask other moms to call too. And moms of boys care very deeply about this problem too. A.

I'm no prude, but as the mom of two almost six year old boys, I'm also appalled at the just plain seedy junk in our so called society. I've read the full Little House series to the boys and once in awhile have let them watch a Little House on the Prairie DVD from the 70's -- no more. The TV folks stripped the sweetness and innocence from that show too. And please believe me, I'm not a prude, but I don't see why children should be exposed to sadistic behavior, prostitution and more. On Little House. My dh is a techie. I'll ask him if there's a way to block the "girl" ads from your computer. A.

Hi Alexandria ~ VCR's are the old DVD players. Thick VHS tapes went into them to watch movies on TV. Nowadays practically everyone uses DVD players. Dmmosher ~ Thanks for making me feel really stupid!! :iagree: I'm new to hs and, at first glance, the kit is . . . large! So I thought it would help me to watch the instructional dvd. . . I mean, VHS tape. But if you don't think I need it, I'll muddle through. A.

I just opened my $300 Sing, Spell, etc. kit and found the teacher's instruction on VHS instead of DVD. I don't have a VCR. I'm low tech and even I have a DVD player. Am I the only one who is annoyed? If the price on the kit were cheaper, I might be less annoyed. If the kit didn't look a tad overwhelming, I might be less annoyed too. But it seems that if you pay $300 in '09, the teacher's instructions should be on DVD. For crying out loud. There I feel better now. Just needed a little venting. I'm talking to the company tomorrow. They were gone by the time I called on Friday. Did anyone else have this reaction? :bigear: Alicia

Hi Robin, I love John Holt -- I think he's a light in the darkness. What I've gotten from home schooling is that it's okay to be individual. The education system is so much about one size fits all and, frankly, people who are against unschooling are thinking their way is the right way too. The rigidity is really silly. Home schooling has taught me that we're all individuals -- we all learn differently. And one way of home teaching isn't the "right" way. For my boys I'm using good curriculum and plenty of unschooling. Given their learning styles, it'll probably stay this way. Yes, I'm green at hs, but I had to write a mag article on hs and read a billion books on the subject before I started. Btw, you look too "proper" to have been cheating in high school -- glad to meet another just like I was!! :glare: Take care, Alicia